Newcastle, a small seaport town in
County Down, about twenty six miles from Belfast and three from Castlewellan,
situated on the shore of Dundrum Bay. It is resorted to by many
respectable families in the Summer, as a bathing place. There are
several large and handsome private dwellings, and numerous well furnished
lodging houses, hot, cold and shower baths, and a handsome hotel built by
Earl Annesley. The Earl's marine residence is Donard Lodge, laid out
with great taste, and near it is a chalybeate spa. to which the public have
access. The Slieve Donard mountain, at the foot of which is the Lodge,
rises to the height of 3,000 feet above the sea. The places of worship
in the town are the Episcopalian chapel of ease, a handsome building, a
Presbyterian church, and a chapel for Wesleyan Methodists, a Roman Catholic
chapel has been erected. There are male and female and infant schools,
supported principally by the Earl and Countess Annesley. The
population of the town in 1851 was 1,200.

Newry, is an extensive market town and Parliamentary
borough, in Down and Armagh counties, fifty miles N. by Dublin, and thirty
from Belfast; comprising within the Parliamentary boundary 2,543 acres, of
which 629 are in the town, and 1,914 in the rural district; population in
1841, 13,277 inhabitants; population in 1851, 13,491 inhabitants; number of
houses, 1,976. It is situated near the mouth of the Newry Water, which
discharges itself into Carlingford Bay, five miles from the town.
There are eight bridges, four of which are stone, and cross the river which
separates the counties of Armagh and Down; the others are iron and wooden
drawbridges across the canal. Newry is a very ancient town. In
1175 Maurice McLoughlin, King of Ireland, founded an abbey here, to which
great immunities and endowments were granted, and afterwards confirmed by
Hugh de Lacy, Earl of Ulster, in 1237. The abbot exercised Episcopal
jurisdiction over the lordships of Newry and Mourne, which authority is now
enjoyed by the trustees of the late lay proprietor ( Earl Kilmorey ), who,
among other privileges, grants marriage licenses, and transacts the usual
business of an ecclesiastical court in Ireland. They appoint a vicar
to discharge the ministerial duties, and as by virtue of the patent they
enjoy all Episcopal powers which can be possibly vested in a layman, the
vicar is responsible for his conduct to them alone, and is not amenable to
either bishop or primate. No writs can be served by the sheriff within
the limits of the jurisdiction without ( if the right were insisted on )
their concurrence. The trustees, by virtue of this patent, are
entitled to the tithes of the lordship of Newry, and have the right of
presentation to the rectory of Mourne. In 1543 the abbey was converted
into a collegiate church for secular priests by Henry VIII., but it was
totally dissolved by Edward VI., and all its appurtenances granted to Sir
Nicholas Bagnal, Marshall of Ireland, who converted the abbey into a private
residence, built some strong castles, repaired the town, and thus laid the
foundation of its subsequent increase. The abbey territory included
not only the lordship of Newry, but also the manor of Mourne ( or Morne ),
and it was long enjoyed by the descendants of Sir Nicholas Bagnal, but at
length became the joint property of two ladies, one of whom carried the
lordship of Newry to the family of Needham, and the other the manor of
Mourne to the ancestor of the Marquis of Anglesey. A celebrated rath,
with a large platform formed on its summit, marks the mutual boundaries of
the town properties, about a mile from Newry. In 1689 the Duke of
Berwick, to secure his retreat to Dundalk from the English forces, under the
command of the Duke of Schomberg, set fire to Newry, and left it in a very
destitute and ruinous condition. The Northern entrance of the town is
adorned with a chaste and elegant obelisk of chiselled granite, erected in
honour of the late highly respected and generally lamented Trevor Corry,
Esq., a favourite magistrate for many years. The Corry Arms,
beautifully executed on Portland stone, appear on the North and South
recesses, and eulogistic inscriptions on black marble are executed on the
West and East sides of the monument. Immediately opposite is a neat,
capacious edifice, known as the Orange Hall, erected by the Orangemen of the
district, on a site granted by the Marquis of Downshire, in which the
meetings of that body are usually held. The public buildings are, two
Protestant churches ( one of which was erected as far back as the reign of
Elizabeth ), four Presbyterian churches ( two of them connected with the
General Assembly ), three Methodist chapels, one Independent chapel, and two
Roman Catholic chapels, two convents, two court houses, two bridewells,
custom house, market house, union workhouse, scriptural schools, freemason
hall, national model school, fever hospital, Bank of Ireland, savings' bank,
and barracks. In the ground in front of the savings' bank is placed a
large Russian gun, beautifully mounted, as a memorial to the Newry heroes
who fell in the Crimea. The town is handsome, and well built of stone,
the streets are regular and compact, and the shops neatly fitted up, and
lighted with gas. Extensive water and gas works have been erected.
Along the quays are large and well built warehouses, there are several corn
and flour mills, a brewery, ten tan yards, one distillery ( not now at work
), three coach and car manufactories, iron and brass foundries, and spade
and shovel manufactories. The other manufactories are linen, yarn,
cotton, salt, iron, glass, cordage &c. The lordship, extending
over 17,054 acres, is an exempt jurisdiction, both ecclesiastical and civil.
Quarter sessions are held here, as also in Ballybot, for a portion of the
County Armagh. The paving, lighting and cleansing of the streets are
vested in twenty one commissioners. The fairs are on 24th April and
29th October, and there is a fair on the first Monday, monthly, in that
portion of the town, in the County of Armagh, called Ballybot ; markets on
Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, all toll free. The borough returns
one member to Parliament, constituency, under 13 and 14 Vic. cap. 60, in
1857, 510, The Bank of Ireland, the Belfast Banking Company and the
Provincial Bank have branches here. There is also a savings' bank,
which was established in 1821, together with a penny savings' bank, which
was inaugurated under the auspices of the Protestant clergymen, assisted by
a number of philanthropic laymen of the town, for the purpose of encouraging
the working classes to save their hard earned wages for the dire necessities
of a future day. The union workhouse was opened on 16th December,
1841. There are two constabulary stations, the County Down side
belonging to the Rathfriland district, and the Armagh side to Ballybot.
The port admits vessels of 1,000 tons to Warrenpoint, five miles from the
town, where the larger vessels remain, but those drawing fifteen feet of
water can go up by the ship canal to the Albert Basin, Newry. Barges
ply by the Newry Canal Navigation to Lough Neagh, thirty two miles distant
inland. The Newry Navigation Company have the management of the port
and canal, the latter of which extends along the West side of the river.
Steam boats regularly sail to Liverpool - one from Albert Basin, Newry,
belonging to the Newry Steam Packet Company, the other belonging to the
Dundalk Steam Packet Company, and one steamer sails from Newry to Glasgow
every week. The Belfast Junction Railway, passes convenient to the
town, and at Goragh Wood is joined by the Newry and Armagh line branch into
Newry, and thus the communication by railway between Newry, Dublin and
Belfast is completed to Warrenpoint. The principal exports are linen
cloth, grain, provisions, cattle, eggs and butter.

Newtownards, is a market town in
County Down, eight miles East from Belfast, situated near the Northern
extremity of Lough Strangford. James I., after the forfeiture of the
surrounding territory by O'Neill's rebellion, granted lands and the
neighbouring monasteries to Sir James Hamilton and Sir Hugh Montgomery, from
whom they passed to the Mount-Alexander family, and from them by exchange
into that of the Colvill family, whose remains are interred in the old
church, and from them to that of Londonderry, and the present Marquis is now
the proprietor of Newtownards, and a large extent of country around.
The town consists of one spacious square, with several streets leading from
it. In the square, a handsome rectangular area, stands the Town Hall,
a large and rather elegant structure in the Grecian Doric style, erected in
1770 by the first Marquis of Londonderry. It contains an elegant suite
of assembly rooms, news room public library, and other apartments, and
beneath are the market offices, shambles &c. Nearly in the centre
of the town stands the lofty and beautiful pedestal of an ancient cross,
erected in 1636, ornamented with armorial sculptures, defaced by the rebels
in 1653, and restored by the inhabitants in 1666. Mount Stewart, the
seat of the Marquis of Londonderry, is within three miles of it. The
weaving of muslin employs a large number of the male population, and the
embroidering of muslin, for the manufacturers of Belfast and Glasgow, a
considerable number of females. About a mile from the town, convenient
to the road leading to Bangor, are extensive lead mines, held on lease from
the Marquis of Londonderry by a spirited company, the ore, which is very
rich, is shipped at Bangor, for Flint, in North Wales, where it is smelted.
There are likewise in the neighbourhood, at Scrabo, several prolific
quarries, producing a stone little inferior to that of Portland. A
handsome monument to the memory of the late General, Marquis of Londonderry,
is erected on Scrabo Hill. The General Sessions for the county are
held here quarterly, and petty sessions on the first and third Saturdays of
every month, in a very handsome court house, lately erected at the expense
of the county. An ancient church, erected by Sir Henry Montgomery, was
some years ago converted into a court house by the Marquis, but being
insufficient, the new court house was erected. The Parish church,
built in 1817, is an elegant cruciform edifice, with a lofty and finely
proportioned spire. The Presbyterian churches, of which there are
four, are convenient and neat edifices. The other places of worship
are chapels for Unitarians, the Wesleyan and New Connexion of Methodists,
two Covenanters' Meeting Houses and a Roman Catholic chapel. The
principal benevolent institution are a fever hospital and dispensary, a
union workhouse, and public schools, among the latter is a large one for
children of both sexes, supported by the Londonderry family. The new
Model School, in course of erection, is a splendid building, situated on the
Old Belfast Road leading to Scrabo. The Belfast Banking Company have
erected a handsome branch bank in the town. The market, which is held
on Saturday, is abundantly supplied with provisions of all kinds, cattle
&c., The annual fairs are held on the 23rd Jan, 14th May, 23rd
Sept and second Saturday of every month. The County Down Railway has a
station at Newtownards, and trains run five times daily between it and
Belfast. Population in 1851, 9,567.